Gator Volleyball Stays Undefeated at Home, Sweeps Tennessee

Published October 27th, 2013

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 5 Gator volleyball squad used a sweep of Tennessee Sunday at the Stephen C. Connell Center (25-13, 25-21, 25-15) to continue its undefeated home streak and down the Lady Vols for the first time since 2010.

Sophomore Živa Recek had a hot hand for the Gators Sunday with a team-high 16 points, tallying 14 kills and three blocks in the Tennessee sweep. Recek notched a .857 hitting efficiency in the first set along with six of her 14 slams. Sophomore outside hitter Gabby Mallette hit .444 and chipped in with nine kills and a solo stuff for 10 points. Freshman right side Alex Holston tied Mallette with nine kills, second most for the Gators Saturday in the sweep.

Quick Hits:

· Prior to Sunday’s match on Sun Sports, junior Taylor Unroe and senior Taylor Brauneis were honored for reaching career milestones this season. Unroe became the 12th Gator in program history to reach the 1,000 dig plateau earlier this season, and is currently 8th all-time in digs at Florida with 1,214. Brauneis became a member of the 4,000 assist club and now has 4,331 assists in her career, including 1,999 while wearing the Orange & Blue

· Sophomore Simone Antwi had a season-best two service aces for the Gators, contributing to the team’s six overall

· Sophomore Nikki O’Rourke has had a service ace in four of her last six outings for the Orange and Blue (Kentucky, Georgia, Auburn & Tennessee)

· Živa Recek’s 14 kills Sunday gave her four double-digit kill outputs in the month of October, last in the four-set thriller at Mizzou (15)

· Recek and Antwi both had a team-best two blocks to lead UF’s defensive efforts

· Junior Taylor Unroe scopped a team-best 15 digs in the back row for the Gators. Brauneis and Recek has six each for UF

Home Sweet Home: Florida has strung together an impressive 16-match home win streak dating back to Nov. 16, 2012, including all 12 home matches thus far in 2013.

Chloe’s a “Mann”ster: Senior middle blocker Chloe Mann is hitting .471 for her career and is the Florida career record holder in the category. The reigning SEC Player of the Year is the NCAA active leader in hitting percentage and sits just above the NCAA record holder in career hitting percentage, Penn State's Arielle Wilson (.468). Mann needs 116 more attempts to be eligible for the NCAA record (14.5 attacks/reg. season match).

Not On Our Watch: Florida has forced 17 of its 22 opponents to operate at under .200 hitting efficiency, including three offensive outputs at .000 and below. UF held Tennessee to a .108 hitting clip for the match Sunday, including a set-best .030 in the third and final set.

NCAA Numbers: Senior Chloe Mann is second in the NCAA in hitting percentage (.506), while the Gators are also second in the nation with a .334 offensive clip. Freshman right-side hitter Alex Holston is fifth in the nation with a .430 hitting percentage and senior setter Taylor Brauneis is sixth in assists (11.75/set).

Mary’s Minute: “Tennessee is a team that, historically, plays very well in the O’Dome as they did today. They were able to get the ball consistently to their middles, who were very productive. It wasn’t until we got on good serving runs, where we could get the ball away from their middles, that we were allowed to run points. In the second set, they elevated our game. They played very well and made us play better. I thought the second set was some pretty good volleyball and we got better from that.”

Mary by the Numbers:

At Florida: 706-82

All-Time: 787-145

Records: No. 5 Florida: 20-2 (9-1 SEC), Tennessee 9-14 (1-8 SEC)

All-Time Against Tennessee: The Gators’ sweep over the Lady Vols Sunday snapped a three-match losing streak as the Orange and Blue notched its first win over Tennessee since 2010. Florida is now 43-12 all-time against Tennessee, including 39-7 under Wise.

Up Next: Florida hits the road for its final full SEC road trip, as the Gators will take on LSU in Baton Rouge for the first time since 2011. The Gators and Tigers will match-up on GatorVision at 8 p.m. ET Friday, November 1 with the radio call on ESPN850/GatorZone.com. Sunday, UF plays its first nationally-televised match of the season with a tilt at Texas A&M in College Station at 2 p.m. ET on November 3. ESPNU will air the match live as the Gators look to sweep the Aggies on the season.

Follow the Gators: For all of the latest information on Florida volleyball, please visit GatorZone. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow Florida Volleyball (@GatorZoneVB) and Coach Mary Wise (@GatorMary) on Twitter. You can also find the Gators on Facebook.